Sorting machine



Sepi 8, 1936. 5 ELLIOTT 2,053,328

SORTINGMACHINE Filed Dec. 16, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet l STANDARD FEEDINGDEVNJE INVENTOR.

BY W

ATTORNEYS.

Sept. 8, 1936. B. s. ELLIOTT SORTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.16, 1933 INVENTOR.

W ATTORNEY-3 Sept. 8, 1936. B. s. ELLIOTT SORTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTORQ BY W- I- Filed Dec. 16, 1933 ATTORNEYS.

Sept. 8, 1936. B. s. E I LIOTT 2,053,328

SORTINGAVMACHINE Filed Dec. 16, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Se t. 8, 1936. B, L TT 2,053,328

SORTINGMACHINE Filed Dec. 16, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENTOR.

LZ/WW/Af W ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 8, 1936 PATENT OFFICE SORTING MACHINE Bernard 8. Elliott,Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Automatic Unit Corporation, a corporationof Wisconsin Application December 16, 1933, Serial No. 102,709

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in sorting machines.

In the manufacture of paper there are certain imperfections which occuron a relatively large percentage of the finished sheets, rendering thesame unsuitable for many uses. This makes it necessary to sort thesheets into so-called flrsts and seconds". Heretofore, no suitablemethod has been devised for carrying out this work by mechanical meansor even partially by mechanical means, with the result that sorting hasbeen done manually; and it has been common practice to employ girls to"fan the sheets one by one and manually separate the imperfect ones.Obviously, therefore, there is a demand for a device which will expeditethis otherwise tedious and time-consuming work and at the same timeaccomplish the sorting in an efficient manner without injury to thesheets.

It is', therefore, one of the objects of the present invention toprovide an eflicient sorting machine capable of operation at high speedunder the supervision of a single, inexperienced worker.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the classdescribed which is capable of handling sheets of any desired weight.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sorting machine overwhich sheets are successively conveyed at high speed, having a scanningarea with deflecting means at the end of said scanning area, saiddeflecting means being operable under the control of a worker seatednear the scanning area to deflect desired sheets while permitting othersto continue in their normal course of travel.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a device as abovedescribed, a conveyor for sheets of material, deflecting means, manuallycontrolled mechanism operable at any time for initiating the operationof said deflecting means, and inter-related driving mechanism betweensaid deflecting means and said conveyor operable to provide foroperation of said deflecting means only at a particular time in thetravel of each approaching sheet to be deflected regardless of when theinitiating mechanism is set in operation during the passage of the sheetover the scanning area. v

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the classdescribed which is capable of use not only in sorting paper but insorting any other material capable of being conveyed in successiveformation and to provide a machine which is not only suitable for use inthe deflecting of defective material but also in other types ofseparation such as the separation of "smu sheets from a stack of printedmatter.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of theimproved sorting machine and all its parts and combinations as set 5forth in the claims and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating one complete embodiment of thepreferred form of the invention in which the same reference numeralsdesignate the same parts in all of the 10 views:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the sorting machine, parts beingbroken away, and standard parts not bearing upon the present inventionbeing shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; I

Fig. 3 is a. fragmentary perspective view showing the deflectingmechanism, parts being broken away;

Figs. 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 are similar detail views showing a part of thedeflecting mechanism in side elevation, other cooperating parts beingshown by broken lines, and each view indicatin a different position ofthe cooperating parts; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the locking mechanismin a position corresponding to the position of Fig. 6.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that thenumeral l0 designates a conveyor frame including parallel, spaced-apartside members It supported on legs or the like [2. Mounted adjacent oneend of the conveyor frame is a standard type of feeding device l3 whichmay be .of any construction capable of feeding sheets from a stack ontoa table H.

An electric motor or other prime mover l5, which is shown as mounted ona platform l6 below the frame but which may be mounted in any desiredlocation, is connected by an endless driving belt I! with a pulleylllmounted rigidly on a shaft l9. Also mounted rigidly on said shaft I9 isa gear 20. The shaft l9 may be suitably journalled in bearings 2|. Thegear 20 meshes with a smaller gear 22 to drive the latter, the gear 22being suitably mounted on a Shaft 23 journalled in bearings 24. Motionmay be suitably transmitted from the shaft 23 thru a driving belt or thelike 25 and pulley 26 to a shaft 21, and the latter has the inner endsof arms 28 suitably driven thereby. Extension arms 29 have one endpivoted to the ends of the arms 28 as at to and have their other endspivotally connected to a trolley device 3| which is movable on rollersSt. The trolley carries a plurality of suction cups 32 which aresuitably connected thru tubing 33 to a source of suction. Inasmuch asthis part of the construction is not novel, the details will not bedescribed. However, the driving connection to the arms 28 is such as tocause reciprocation of the trolley or carriage 38 so that the suctioncups may act to move sheets from the platform I4 toward the conveyingmechanism.

The shaft [9 is connected thru suitable bevel gearing with a verticalshaft 34 to drive the latter, and the shaft 34 has its upper endprovided with a rigidly mounted bevel gear 35 engageable with 'a bevelgear 36 mounted on a shaft 31, which is journalled in bearings 38. Thebearings 38 are carried by one of the side bars I I of the conveyorframe. The shaft 31 also carries a rigidly mounted bevel gear 38 whichis engageable with a bevel gear 48 to drive a shaft 4| extendingtransversely of the conveyor frame. The shaft 4| carries a plurality ofrigidly mounted pulleys 42 and a suction wheel device 43, the saidsuction wheel device being of standard construction and capable ofaiding the suction cups 32 in feeding sheets of material onto endlessconveyor belts 44 which are driven by the pulleys 42.

The conveyor belts 44 extend over rollers 45 mounted on a shaft 46 andthen downwardly at an angle, as at 41, and around rollers 48 mounted ona shaft 48.

Another shaft 50, journalled transversely of the conveyor frame andspaced somewhat from the shaft 46, carries pulleys 5| around which asecond group of conveyor belts 52 operate, the upper portions of theconveyor belts 52 being in alinement with the upper portions of. theconveyor belts 44.

The rollers 45 on the shaft 46 may be driven by means of an endless beltconnection 63 with the shaft 4 I. r

A shaft 54 journalled transversely of the conveyor frame between theshafts 46 and 58 rigidly carries a plurality of deflecting arms orlevers 55, the said arms having their upper surfaces normally inalinement with the upper portions of the conveyor belts 44 and 52 butbeing movable on rocking of the shaft to the dotted line deflectingposition shown in Fig. 1. Near one end of the shaft 54 is rigidlymounted a pair of oppositely extending arms 56 and 51, the arm 56 beingconnected by a coil spring or other yielding device 58 with the adjacentside member ll of the conveyor frame and the arm 51 having a latchmember 59 pivotally suspended therefrom (see Fig. 3).

The shaft 31 is further formed with a bevel gear 60 meshing with anotherbevel gear 6| mounted on a short shaft 62. The shaft 62 is also providedwith a gear 63 which meshes with a gear 64 loosely mounted on a shaft65. A cam roller 66, also loosely mounted on the shaft 65, is secured toone side of the gear 64 and is driven thereby, said cam roller beingprovided with a raised area 61 along its periphery. An arm 68 rigidlyconnected to the shaft 54 has a cam follower 69 in connection with itsfree end, said follower being adapted to ride along the periphery of thecam roller 66.

Belt tighteners 10 may be suitably mounted on the shaft 65 and areadapted to engage the lower portions of the conveyor belts 44.

A short shaft 1| extending thru one of the side bars ll of the frame hasa handle 12 rigidly mounted on one end thereof and a forked member 13rigidly carried by the other end. A bar 14 has one end pivotallyconnected to the forked member 13 and has its other end slidable over aguiding projection 15, there being a spring 16 connected between saidprojection and said bar 14 to cause automatic return of the bar tonormal position. Near its outer end the bar 14 has its lower surfacerecessed as at 11, and said recessed portion is adapted to engage overthe guiding extension 15.

A block 18 carried by the extreme outer end of the bar 14 and projectingupwardly is formed with a bore 18 (see Fig. 7) within which a plunger 88is slidable' against the tension of a. coil spring 8| surrounding a rod82 which projects rearwardly from the plunger and which extends thru theend of the block 18, and said rod has its outer end threaded as at 83 toreceive nuts 84 and said nuts may be manipulated to adjust the limit ofmovement of the plunger.

The latch 58 which depends from the arm 51 is formed intermediately ofits length with an upwardly extending lug 85 spaced from the side of thelatch member by a recess 86, and said lug 85 is engageable with a recess81 formed in the lower surface of a latch block 88, said block beingsuitably mounted on the side of the frame in the manner shown in Fig. 7.

In operation of the device sheets of material are first fed by thestandard feeding device I3 onto the table l4 where they are thenadvanced by the suction cups 32 and by the suction roller 43 onto theconveyor belts 44. The sheets thus advanced then travel in single mealong the belts for a substantial distance until they reach the rollers45 on the shaft 46. This distance between the table l4 and the rollers45 is the scanning area and is of such length as to permit an operatorseated alongside the conveyor to detect defective sheets as they passover said scanning area.

The deflecting levers or arms 55 normally remain in non-deflectingposition and permit the sheets to travel thereover onto the secondsection of conveyor belts 52, which latter lead to a point of discharge.As the sheets are traveling, the cam roller 66 is, of course,continuously rotating, but normally the coil spring 58 cannot rock theshaft 54 to let the cam follower 68 engage the depressed portion of theperiphery of the cam because of the fact that the latch 59 when it is inengagement with the block 88 locks the shaft 54 against rocking movementto any great extent. The arrangement is such, however, that when thelatch is in fully engaged position, as shown in Fig.

6, the cam follower 69 is slightly lower than the raised part of the camroller. Thus, when the high part of the cam engages the follower, asshown in Fig. 5, there is a slight rocking of the shaft 54 or enough toslightly lower the latch so that the lug 85 is out of the recess 81 inthe block 88. As soon as the cam follower 68 leaves the high side of thecam, however, the latch returns to the position of Fig. 6. Thus, witheach revolution of the cam roller the latch is moved from the positionof Fig. 5 to the position of Fig. 6. This slight movement, however, hasno effect on the deflector levers 55, so that the same remain in normalnon-deflecting position. The cam roller thru its inter-related drivingmechanism with the conveyor belts 44 and sheet feeding mechanism is sotimed that the iatch is moved from the position of Fig. 6 to theposition of Fig. 5 when each advancing sheet on the conveyor belt iswithin approximately three inches of the deflector arms 55. This exacttiming can be varied as desired, but it is important that the actiontake place once for each sheet.

When the operator-tees a defective sheet on the scanning area, she movesthe handle 12 to the position shown in Fig. 6. If. the movement of thehandle happens to take place at a time when the latch is in its loweredposition of Fig.5, this movement of the lever will immediately cause thelatch to be pushed toward the left to the position of Fig. 8, so that itlaterallyclears the block 88. However, most of the time. the. lever willbe pulled before the latch is lowered,.and in such case it will merelycause a depression .of the plunger 88 against the tension-of the coilspring 8|, as shown in Figs. 6 and'Z. 1 The lever is left in thisposition, and when the cam follower reaches the high side of the cam,the latch will be lowered to disengage the lug 85 from the recess 81 andthe tension of the coil spring 8| will then serve to eject the plungerand cause the latch member to be moved toward the left to the positionshown in Fig. 8. Then when the cam follower leaves the high side of thecam, as shown in Fig. 9, the spring 58 will exert apull on the arm 56,raising-the latch member to the position shown in Fig. 9 and at the sametime raising the deflector arms to deflecting position, shown by dottedlines in said figure. As before mentioned, this raising of the deflectorarms is timed to always occur at a particular time with respect to theposition of the advancing sheet. The sheets will, therefore, not passover the deflector arms 55, but will pass therebeneath over theangularly extending portions of the belts 48 between the rollers .45 andSI, and the defective sheets will be ultimately discharged. below "theconveyor frame into a suitable stacking device.

During the before-mentioned lifting of the latch lever to the positionshown in Fig. 9, a pin 89 carried by said latch member will engage thelower side of the bar 14 and will lift the same so that the recess 11.is out of engagement with the guiding extension l5,'permitting the coilspring I6 to automatically return the bar 14 and handle 12 to normalposition; As soon -'as the cam follower again strikes the high side ofthe cam, the latch member will again'be lowered and will swing to aposition beneath the block 88 and into engagement with the recessthereof. This action, of course, automatically lowers the deflectorarms. This lowering of the deflector arms takes place almost immediatelyafter a sheet has been deflected, so that a closely following sheet maypass safely overthe deflecting arms'without'jamming. It will thus beseen that the operator can pull the lever 12 at any time during passageof the sheet to be deflected over the scanning area andthat regardlessof the time when the lever is manipulated, the deflector arms will notoperate until the particular sheet is within a fixed distance therefrom.It will also be seen that the deflector arms are quickly andautomaticallyreturned to normal position after they have served todeflect a sheet and that the handle I2 is automatically returned tonormal position. Thus, no expert control of the machine is required asthe automatic operations are so perfectly timed as to positively insuresmooth'operation.

' It is also apparent that the device makes it possible for theoperatorto cause deflection of sheets as frequently or as infrequently as shemay desire. Two or more successive sheets may be deflected one after theother or only one sheet. in twenty or more may be deflected, as theoccasion requires.

The device may also be advantageously employed in connection with theseparation of smut sheets from a stack of printed matter. .These sheetsare usually of light weight material and are placed between each printedsheet to prevent smearing of the printing thereon. Sometimes, however,more than one smut sheet is accidentally placed over the same printedsheet. With the present invention this makes no difference as the devicecanbe operated to deflect the two smut sheets in a row and permit thefollowing printed sheet to pass along over the belts 52.

Althoonly one form of the invention has been shown and described, it isobvious that various changes and modifications may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit of the invention.' It is also obviousthat there are other adaptations than those mentioned above, and it iscontemplatedthat all of such changes and adaptations are included as maycome within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. Asorting machine comprising a conveyor for moving material insuccessive formation, a shaft extending transversely of said conveyor,deflecting means rigidly carried by said shaft, yielding means operableto urge said deflecting means in one direction, cam and followermechanism cooperable with said shaft and with said yielding means toprovide for automatic movement of the deflecting means into and out ofdeflecting position at regular intervals, means normally locking saiddeflecting means in nondeflecting position, and a manualcontrol for saidlocking means, said locking means including a suspended latch inconnection with said shaft movable vertically at regular intervals inresponse to said cam and follower to partly disengaged position andmovable laterally to fully disengaged position in response to saidmanual control. 2

2. A sorting machine comprising a conveyor for moving material insuccessive formation, a shaft extending transversely of said conveyor,deflecting means rigidly carried by said shaft, yielding means operableto urge said deflecting means in one direction, cam and followermechanism cooperable with said shaft and with said yielding means toprovide for automatic movement of the deflecting means into and out ofdeflecting position at regular intervals, means normally locking saiddeflecting means in non-deflecting position, a manual control for saidlocking means, said locking means including a suspended latch inconnection with said shaft movable vertically at regular intervals inresponse to said cam and follower to partly disengaged position andmovable laterally to fully disengaged position in response to saidmanual control, and means in connection with said manual control forautomatically moving the latch to fully disengaged position subsequentto operation of the manual control if the latter has been operated priorto said first-mentioned cam controlled movement of the latch.

3. A sorting machine comprising a conveyor for moving material insuccessive formation, a shaft extending transversely of said conveyor,deflecting means rigidly carried by said shaft, yielding means operableto urge said deflecting means in one direction, cam and followermechanism cooperable with said shaft and with said yielding means toprovide for automatic movement of the deflecting means into and out ofdeflecting position at regular intervals, a common drive for said camand said conveyor, means normally locking said deflecting means innondeflectingposition, a manual control for said locking means, saidlocking means including a suspended latch in connection with said shaftmovable vertically at regular intervals in response to said cam andfollower to partly disengaged position and movable laterally to fullydisengaged position in response to said manual control, and means inconnection with said manual control for automatically moving the latchto fully disengaged position subsequent to operation of the manualcontrol if the latter has been ,operated prior to said first-mentionedcam controlled movement of the latch. a

4. A sorting machine comprising a frame, a first section of conveyingmechanism extending along said frame embodying endless means having anend extending angularly out of the general direction of travel of theconveying mechanism, a second section of conveying mechanism forming acontinuation of the main portion of said first conveying mechanism insubstantially the same horizontal plane therewith but spaced therefrom,deflecting means adjacent the end of said first section of conveyingmechanism normally positioned in said horizontal plane to bridge thespace between the end'of the main portion of the first conveyor sectionand the beginning of the second conveyor section and permit material tocontinue along said second section, and means for operating saiddeflecting means to shunt material onto the angular extending portion ofthe first conveying mechanism.

5. A sorting machine comprising a frame, a first section of conveyingmechanism extending along said frame embodying endless means having anend extending angularly out of the general direction of travel of theconveying mechanism, a second section of conveying mechanism forming acontinuation of the main portion of said first conveying mechanism insubstantially the same horizontal plane therewith but spaced therefrom,deflecting means adjacent the end of said first section of conveyingmechanism comprising pivotally mounted levers normally positioned insubstantially the same horizontal plane as the main portion of saidfirst section of conveying mechanism to bridge the space between themain portion of the first conveying mechanism and the beginning of thesecond section of conveying mechanism and to permit material to continuealong said second section, and means for operating said deflecting meansto shunt material onto the angular extending portion of the firstconveying mechanism.

6. A sorting machine, comprising, a conveyor for moving material insuccessive formation, a scanning area on said conveyor permittingobservation of the advancing material, deflecting means at the end ofsaid scanning area, means operable to cause automatic movement of saiddeflecting means into and out of deflecting position at a fixed timewith respect to the passage of each sheet\of material, control meansnormally preventing said automatic means from functioning, a manualoperator for said control means operable at any time during the passageof the material over the scanning area, means for automatically holdingsaid manual operator in operative position after it has been moved anduntil said control means has functioned to permit deflection of a sheet,and means for automatically releasing and returning said manual operatorto inoperative position after a sheet has been deflected.

7. A sorting machine comprising a conveyor for moving material insuccessive formation, a shaft extending transversely of said conveyor,deflecting means carried rigidly by said shaft, yielding means operableto urge said deflecting means in one direction, cam and followermechanism cooperable with said shaft and with said yielding means toprovide for automatic movement of the deflecting means into and out ofdeflecting position at regular intervals, a common drive for said camand said conveyor, a fixed latch, a mov able latch connected to said cammechanism normally locking the deflecting means in non-deflectingposition and automatically moved by the cam mechanism at regularintervals into and out of engagement with said fixed latch, a manualcontrol, and means between said manual control and said movable latchfor causing movement of the latter to a position to permit operation ofthe deflecting means whenever the movable latch is out of engagementwith the fixed latch and when said manual control has been operated.

8. A sorting machine comprising a conveyor for moving material insuccessive formation, a shaft extending transversely of said conveyor,deflecting means carried rigidly by said shaft, yielding means operableto urge said deflecting means in one direction, cam and followermechanism cooperable with said shaft and with said yielding means toprovide for automatic movement of the deflecting means into and'out ofdeflecting position at regularintervals, a common drive for said cam andsaid conveyor, a fixed latch, a pivotally suspended latch normallylocking the deflecting means in non-deflecting position and connectedwith said cam mechanism to be automatically moved vertically by thelatter at regular intervals into and out of enga ement with said fixedlatch, a manual control, and means between said manual control and saidpivotally suspended latch operable when said pivotally suspended latchis free of the fixed latch to cause lateral movement of the pivotallysuspended latch to a position clear of the fixed latch and therebypermit operation of the deflecting means either simultaneously with orafter said manual control has been operated depending upon whether ornot the pivotally suspended latch is in engagement with the fixed latchat the time of movement of the manual control.

9. A sorting machine comprising a conveyor for moving material insuccessive formation, a shaft extending transversely of said conveyor,deflecting means carried rigidly by said shaft, yielding means operableto urge said deflecting means in one direction, cam and followermechanism cooperable with said shaft and with said yielding means toprovide for automatic movement of the deflecting means into and out ofdeflecting position at regular intervals, a common drive for mid cam andsaid conveyor, a fixed latch, a pivotally suspended latch normallylocking the deflecting means in non-deflecting position and connectedwith said cam mechanism to be automatically moved vertically by thelatter at regular intervals into and out of engagement with said fixedlatch, a manual control, and means including a yielding plunger betweensaid manual control and said pivotally suspended latch operable whensaid pivotally suspended latch is free of the fixed latch to causelateral movement of the pivotally suspended latch to a position clear ofthe fixed latch and thereby permit operation of the deflecting meanseither simultaneously with or after said manual control has beenoperated depending upon whether ornot the pivotally suspended latch isin engagement with the fixed latch at the time of movement of the manualcontrol.

10. A sorting machine comprising a conveyor for moving material insuccessive formation, a scanning area on said conveyor permittingobservation of the advancing material, deflecting means at the end ofsaid scanning area, timed mechanism operable to cause automatic movementof said deflecting means into and out of deflecting position at a fixedtime with respect to the passage of each sheet, a manual control movableto set said timed mechanism in condition for deflecting operation, meansfor automatically holding said manual control in set position after ithas been moved and until the timed mechanism has caused deflection of asheet, and means for automatically releasing and returning said manualcontrol to inoperative position after a sheet has been deflected.

BERNARD S. ELLIOTT.

